The present invention relates to the field of taking measurements and acquiring representations of subjects, in particular of human subjects, and has for its object an automatic installation for taking measurements and for acquiring shapes of subjects, as well as a process permitting automatically carrying out these operations.
Different systems of acquisition of three-dimensional shapes of subjects and taking measurements, particularly for their classification, already exist, such as for example those disclosed by GB 2159943 and EP0 524 119.
However, these known apparatus and devices all have one or several of the following drawbacks: complicated structure, impossibility of carrying out precise and realistic three-dimensional reconstructions of the subject, necessity for careful standardization before each acquisition or after each modification of position of the means for taking views, insufficient protection against parasitic light and consequent reduced reliability of the measurements, impossibility of simultaneous and correlative use of several views of the same subject given the duration of acquisition and the movements of the subject during these intervals, acquisition of partial information because of the color and nature of the clothing worn by the subject, the need to turn or cause the subject to turn to acquire various views and hence the unreproducibility of conditions of taking identical views, the need to acquire, process and store a large mass of data to supply precise data and the production of a virtual three-dimensional reproduction of the subject, not entirely automatic process, particularly as to standardization.
The present invention particularly has for its object to overcome at least certain ones of these drawbacks and certain ones of the mentioned limitations.
It has particularly for its object to provide a system and process permitting taking measurements and acquiring three-dimensional shapes of a subject in an automatic, rapid, reliable and precise manner, without requiring view taking devices that are too complicated or processing and storage means of very great capacity, becoming free from the interference of ambient light, color and the nature of the clothing worn by the subject and careful and repetitive standardization procedures with manipulation of standard objects.
To this end, the present invention has for its object an installation for the automatic acquisition of three-dimensional shapes and for taking measurements of subjects, particularly in the form of a booth adapted for human subjects, comprising at least one unit for projecting fringes, in particular light fringes, and at least one unit for taking views rapidly, as well as a control unit for the installation and processing of the acquired views, characterized in that said units for projection and taking of views are gathered into one or several acquisition heads and in that said installation also comprises, on the one hand, several fixed markers or reference points and several surfaces for reference projection surrounding the acquisition and measurement zone receiving the subject to be acquired and located in the field of vision of the unit or each of the units for taking views and, on the other hand, a means for generating a temporary wall of light opposite said at least one acquisition head or each of said acquisition heads relative to the acquisition zone.
It also has for its object an automatic process for the quasi-instantaneous acquisition of three-dimensional shapes and for taking measurements of subjects, in particular human subjects, particularly by means of the above installation, characterized in that it consists essentially in placing or causing to be placed a subject at the level of an acquisition zone, this zone comprising markers and reference projection surfaces, located in the fields of view of acquisition heads of views of said subject and constituting permanent standardization references, carrying out the acquisition of a so-called face view comprising, on the one hand, taking a first image of a face view of the subject by means of a first unit for taking views in synchronism with illumination creating a wall of light behind the subject by means of a first means for generating a wall of light, for the acquisition of a first contour by silhouette, and, on the other hand, taking a second front view of the subject by means of said first unit for taking views in synchronism with the projection of a network of horizontal fringes by means of a first projection unit on the front surface of the subject, then carrying out the acquisition of a so-called rear view comprising, on the one hand, taking a first rear view of the subject by means of a second unit for taking views in synchronism with illumination creating a wall of light in front of the subject by means of a second generating means for a light wall, for the acquisition of a second silhouette contour and, on the other hand, taking a second rear image of the subject by means of said second unit for taking views in synchronism with the projection of a network of horizontal fringes by means of a second projection unit on the rear surface of the subject and, finally, processing, by means of a suitable control and processing unit, the images and views acquired by correlation and exploitation of the different information supplied by them for the constitution of a three-dimensional representation of the subject of the extraction of measurements and/or of the classification of the subject in one or more predefined categories.